My Apologies! I got distracted working on "Learning to Drive" and forgot to send this out yesterday! Please imagine it is still Monday as you read the following!

It's MAY 25th!!!!

Who knows the cultural significance of that date???

It's STAR WARS DAY!!!

Everyone knows about May the 4th be with you, but this is the day Star Wars was first released in theaters! I am indeed flying my geek flag here! This is also the day my fiance' and I have chosen to celebrate as our anniversary. We set a date of May 25th, 2017 specifically as that will be 40 years to the day after Star Wars was released! (and to be clear - that was actually her idea - which is part of why I know she's the one! ;-) )

Last weekend I showed at the Belleville Art On the Square in Belleville, Illinois. It is rated the #2 show in the entire country! I thought I would share a couple -o- pix of my booth from the show as there are some pieces that I haven't shared in the newsletter yet! :-D

(right) I haven't had much of my mixed media on display since last Summer. I just haven't had room at most shows, but here a the three typewriters I have with me including the only one for which I've sculpted a giant pencil! Beneath those are several of my 12"x12" Drizzlescapes, including the ever popular typewriters and a set of fruits that I recently painted.

(below) For Belleville I largely exhibited my photo-realism line, but the Drizzleisms (on the right) have been a huge hit in both the photo-realism displays and the Drizzlescape displays! I painted 9 of them before I hit the road for my spring run-o-shows and these are the 5 I have left.

NEW ART!!!!

Some galleries that are showing my work became enthralled with my "Wrap" series from 2011, and requested I create some more of those, so here are the first two!

(Left) "Checkerboard wrap" - 24"x20" acrylic on canvas stretched over a 3.5" thick frame. I was inspired for this one by a knight from my glass chess set. In fact, I included the glass knight in the painting at first, but soon realized that you couldn't really tell what it was. Haha! I decided to bring it back to the contrast of the paper and the texture of the folds.

(below) Masking tape has long been a fun subject for us photorealists because it's fun watching people want to peel it off the artwork.

(right) - "Blue Sky Wrap" - 24"x20" acrylic on canvas. I happened upon this blue sky paper at the craft store and couldn't resist including it in my wrap series. Of course always seeking ways to add a dimension to the illusion, I decided to fly an airplane into the fun!

These are one-of-a-kind original paintings and no reproductions will be made of this new series. If either of them grab must find a wall in your home, they run $1,900 each before I ship them to the galleries!

Click HERE to see the 2015 show schedule

Both of these pieces are destined for galleries in the Rocky Mountains (Park City and Aspen) in about a week at which point they will each retail for $3,800. Toss me a note before June 2nd if you are interested in either of these new paintings.

I'll soon be setting up for my final show of the spring season here in Kansas City (Prairie Village)! After that! CHERRY CREEK in Denver, Co. over the 4th of July weekend!

Meanwhile, I continue to work rigorously on finishing up our film project, Learning to Drive. If you haven't checked it out already we have a brand new website set up at www.learningtodrive-movie.com! AND THERE'S A TEASER VIDEO FROM THE FILM!!! :-o Next issue I'll share some more details about where we're at with it all!

Thanks as always and hope to see some of you soon!

Roderick E. Stevens II

Artist/Filmmaker

roderick@restevensart.com